Web and connectors

ABSTRACT

Connectors are attached to a tape in pairs. The tape is fed into a machine and wires are inserted into the connectors. Four wires are selected, arranged in two pairs and then are inserted, two each into the two connectors. Thereafter, the connectors are crimped, electrically connecting the wires together.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Jimmy C. Ray

Denlson, Tex. 75020 [2|] Appl No. 63,255

[22] Filed Aug. 12, I970 [45] Patented Dec. 7, 1971 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 836,291, June 25, 1969, which is a division of application Ser. No. 525,506, Feb. 7, 1966. This application Aug. 12, 1970, Ser. No. 63,255

[54] WEB AND CONNECTORS 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

1521 0.5. CI 206/56 A, 29/203 R, 29/203 11, 29/628, 29/630 F, 206 59 R,

72/410, 174 84 c, 174/87, 339 97 c, 339/276 SF 511 1m. 01 ..B65d 85/54, H02g 15/08 [50] Field of Search 174/84 R, 84 c, 87. 88 R. 90, 94 R; 339/223 R. 276 R. 276 'r; 206/56 A, 59 R; 29/628, 630 F. 203 R. 203 H;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,396,725 3/l946 Thomas, Jr. 174/84 C UX 2,923,761 2/l960 Stevens, .lr..... 174/88 3,406,247 lO/l968 Parsons" 174/88 Primary Examiner- Darrell L. Clay Attorney-Charles W. Coffee ABSTRACT: Connectors are attached to a tape in pairs. The tape is fed into a machine and wires are inserted into the connectors. Four wires are selected, arranged in two pairs and then are inserted, two each into the two connectors. Thereafter, the connectors are crimped, electrically connecting the wires together.

PATENTEU DEC 7 I97! SHEET 1 0F 2 \NVENTOR JIMMY C. RAY

WEB AND CONNECTORS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of my previous application filed 25 June 1969, Ser. No. 836,291, which was a divisional application of my application filed 7 Feb. 1966, Ser. No. 525,506.

This invention relates to splicing communication cables and, more particularly, to a method and means for splicing the various wires of a bundle of wires forming a telephone cable.

At present, telephone cables are spliced by matching by color one wire each from the two cables to be spliced, cutting with hand shears the two wires to even the ends, inserting the two ends of the wires together into an insulated connector, and then crimping the connector and the wires with a plierslike tool.

According to this invention, the connectors are mounted in pairs upon a web. Then, two pairs of wires (the wires are in pairs in each cable) are selected and combined from the two adjacent cables to be spliced and the four wires are sheared to an even length. The two matched pairs of wires are inserted into a pair of connectors which are mounted upon 'the web and then the pair of connectors crimped and the web cut. Obviously, doing this by hand with the connectors mounted upon a web would be an improvement. However, more important, the mounting of the connectors on a web adapts the operation for mechanization. A simple machine is provided with a pneumatic cylinder so that with one stroke of the cylinder, the wires are cut and upon the other stroke of the cylinder, the connectors are crimped and the web severed. Upon the shearing stroke, another pair of connectors are positioned upon an anvil under a hammer.

An object of this invention is to splice cables of communication wires.

Another object is to splice cables of communication wires A further object is to provide a machine which is free of 0 trouble in operation.

Still further objects are to achieve the above with a device that is sturdy, compact, durable, simple, portable, and reliable, yet inexpensive and easy to manufacture and operate.

Still further objects are to achieve the above with a method that is rapid and inexpensive and dies not require skilled people to adjust and operate.

The specific nature of the invention, as well as other objects, uses, and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, the different views of which are not necessarily to the same scale, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a machine according to this invention with parts broken away.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the web with connectors attached thereto.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the wire shears, taken on line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the hammer and anvil with a connector on the anvil, taken on line 44 of FIG. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the machine is constructed upon base plate 10. A cover is provided for a finished machine; however, for ease of illustration, it is not shown.

Double-stroke pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder or motor 12 is attached at its closed end by pin 14 to the base plate 10. Piston rod 16 of the cylinder is attached to the middle pivot pin I8 of toggle links 20 and 22. Toggle link 20 is pivoted on the other end to the base plate 10, while the other end of toggle link 22 is attached to hammer 24. Therefore, upon the extension of the rod 16, the toggle links will cause the hammer to move against anvil 26, which is attached to the base plate 10. The working face of the hammer 24 and the working face of the anvil 26 are parallel to each other and at right angle to the surface of the base plate 10 as shown.

The pneumatic cylinder 12 is powered by air under pressure from a source not shown and is activated by a valve, also not shown, inasmuch as valves for this purpose are well known.

Wire shear blade 28 is pivoted by pin 30 to the base plate 10. The blade is either attached to or an integral part of lever 32. On the opposite end of the lever from the blade 28, the lever is pivoted to pitman 34. The other end of the pitman 34 is pivoted to link 22 adjacent to the piston rod 16. The pitman 34 extends adjacent the cylinder or motor 12. When the toggle links break toward the cylinder, the working face of the hammer 24 is away from the anvil 26.

Analysis of the mechanism, with the assistance of the drawing, shows that as the piston rod is retracted, the hammer is raised and the shear blade will be on the working stroke, shearing against shoulder 36 of notch 38. When the piston rod 16 is extended,.the shear blade 28 is retracted to open the notch 38 while the hammer 24 is on the working stroke. Paper knife 40 is attached to the hammer 24 to cut web or paper strip 42 upon the working stroke of the hammer. A notch is provided in the anvil for paper knife to work in. Also, guides in the form of bearing rails 44 are attached to the base plate to guide the hammer in rectilinear motion.

The connectors 46 are well known in the art and consist of metal members having cavities or cups 48 which have internal v prongs on the interior and are encased or telescoped within insulating element or sleeve 50. In use, the two wires are inserted side by side into the connector and the connector crimped. The crimping does not rupture the insulating sleeve, but it does force the prongs into electrical conducting contact with the wires. As stated before, the connectors are well known to the art and are in the same connectors as used by the present hand method. The crimping operation is the same except that, according to my invention, the connectors are crimped between hammer 24 and anvil 26 uniformly, rather than being crimped with a hand-actuated plierslike crimping tool.

The connectors are mounted in adjacent, distinctly defined pairs upon the paper strip or web 42. As shown in this embodiment, FIGS. 1 and 2, the pairs are mounted with their longitudinal or major axes normal to the longitudinal or major axis of the web. It will be understood by those skilled in the an that the axes of the connectors could be aligned with the axis of the web, still being mounted in adjacent pairs. However, it is preferred to mount the pairs transverse, as shown. As may be seen in the drawings, particularly FIGS. I and 2, the connectors 46 are proximate, or touching each other, in the pair and there is a space on the web 42 between pairs of connectors. Further referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the distinctly defined pairs of connectors 46 are spaced on the web 42 from every other pair by a distance of at least equal to substantially the width of any one of the connectors 46, which space exceeds the distance or space between the connectors of each pair which are touching. Then referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, it is clearly seen the web 42 underlies the metal members or cups 48 of the connectors 46 and extends across at least one-half the length of the metal member 48. Also, the web 42 is intermediate the ends if the connectors 46.

A roll enclosure or holder 52 is provided upon base plate 10. Roll 54 of the web 42 with the connectors 46 is kept in the roll enclosure. The end of the roll is fed through chute 56 to anvil 26. The webis fed by feeder finger 58, which is pivoted to feeder arm 60. The feeder arm 60 is attached to block 62 which slides within guide tracks 64. The block 62 is attached to the end of the piston rod 16 by connecting rod 66.

Reiterating the material found in the introduction, in operation, the operator chooses a pair of wires from the two cables to be spliced together, holds them parallel with the ends together, and inserts them into notch 38; then, he operates the valve to retract the piston rod 16, thereby shearing the wires to equal length by wire shear blade 28. In this stroke, the feeder finger 58 will index a pair of connectors 46 onto the anvil 26 underneath the hammer 24. The operator then inserts a wire from each pair into each of the two connectors 46 which are then under the hammer 24. Upon reversal of the operating valve, the piston rod 16 is extended, causing the hammer to crimp the two connectors, the paper knife 40 to sever the web 42, and the feeder finger 58 to move over the next adjacent pair of connectors. The feeder finger 58 is pivoted to the feeder arm 60 so that is pivots upward to index over a pair of connectors, but pivots downward to positively move the pair forward. After the hammer has crimped the two connectors, the operators turns loose of the four wires in the two connectors, chooses an additional pair of wires from each cable, and inserts them into the notch 38 to repeat the process.

It will be apparent that the embodiment shown is only exemplary and that various modifications can be made in operation, construction, materials, and arrangement within the scope of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an article of manufacture having a. a web,

b. a series of pairs of electrical connectors upon the web,

c. each connector including i. a longitudinal axis, and ii. a metal member having a cavity,

d. a longitudinal axis of each of the connectors parallel to the longitudinal axes of the other connectors,

e. the improvement comprising:

f. said connectors arranged in distinctively defined pairs,

with each pair spaced from every other pair,

g. each of the connectors touching the connector with which it is paired,

h. the space between each of the pairs exceeding the space between the connectors of each pair, and

j. an insulating element encasing said metal member of each connector,

k. so that a pair of wires may be inserted into the cavity of each connector of each pair and then each pair of connectors crimped simultaneously and thereafter remain insulated from the other by the encasing insulating element.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of m. the space between pairs being at least equal to substantially the width of any one of said connectors.

3. In an article of manufacture having a. a web,

b. a series of pairs of electrical connectors upon the web,

0. each connector including i. a longitudinal axis, and ii. a metal member having a cavity,

d. the longitudinal axis of each of the the connectors lying transverse the longitudinal axis of the web;

e. the longitudinal axis of each of the connectors parallel to the longitudinal axes of the other connectors;

f. the improvement comprising:

g. said connectors arranged in distinctly defined pairs with each pair spaced from every other pair,

h. the space between each of the pairs exceeding the space between the connectors of each pair, and

j. an insulating element encasing said metal member of each connector,

k. so that a pair of wires may be inserted into the cavity of each connector of each pair and then each pair of connectors crimped simultaneously and thereafter remain insulated one from the other by the encasing insulating element.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of m. each of the connectors touching the connector with which it is paired.

5. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of m. said space between pairs being a distance of least equal to substantially the width of any one of said connectors.

6. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of m. the web being disposed substantially i. intermediate the ends of the connectors,

ii. underlying the metal members having a cavity, and iii. extending across at least one-half the length of the metal member.

7. The invention as defined in claim 6 with the additional limitation of n. said space between pairs being a distance at least equal to substantially the width of any one of said connectors.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7 with the additional limitation of 0. each of the connectors touching the connector with which it is paired. 

1. In an article of manufacture having a. a web, b. a series of pairs of electrical connectors upon the web, c. each connector including i. a longitudinal axis, and ii. a metal member having a cavity, d. a longitudinal axis of each of the connectors parallel to the longitudinal axes of the other connectors, e. the improvement comprising: f. said connectors arranged in distinctively defined pairs, with each pair spaced from every other pair, g. each of the connectors touching the connector with which it is paired, h. the space between each of the pairs exceeding the space between the connectors of each pair, and j. an insulating element encasing said metal member of each connector, k. so that a pair of wires may be inserted into the cavity of each connector of each pair and then each pair of connectors crimped simultaneously and thereafter remain insulated from the other by the encasing insulating element.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of m. the space between pairs being at least equal to substantially the width of any one of said connectors.
 3. In an article of manufacture having a. a web, b. a series of pairs of electrical connectors upon the web, c. each connector including i. a longitudinal axis, and ii. a metal member having a cavity, d. the longitudinal axis of each of the connectors lying transverse the longitudinal axis of the web; e. the longitudinal axis of each of the connectors parallel to the longitudinal axes of the other connectors; f. the improvement comprising: g. said connectors arranged in distinctly defined pairs with each pair spaced from every other pair, h. the space between each of the pairs exceeding the space between the connectors of each pair, and j. an insulating element encasing said metal member of each connector, k. so that a pair of wires may be inserted into the cavity of each connector of each pair and then each pair of connectors crimped simultaneously and thereafter remain insulated one from the other by the encasing insulating element.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of m. each of the connectors touching the connector with which it is paired.
 5. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of m. said space between pairs being a distance at least equal to substantially the width of any one of said connectors.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 3 with the additional limitation of m. the web being disposed substantially i. intermediate the ends of the connectors, ii. underlying the metal members having a cavity, and iii. extending across at least one-half the length of the metal member.
 7. The invention as defined in claim 6 with the additional limitation of n. said space between pairs being a distance at least equal to substantially the width of any one of said connectors.
 8. The invention as defined in claim 7 with the additional limitation of o. each of the connectors touching the connector with which it is paired. 